“Well, what did I say？Buck’s a real fighter, all right,” said Francois the next morning when he discovered that Spitz had disappeared and that Buck was covered in blood．

“Spitz fought like a wolf,” said Perrault, as he looked at the bites all over Buck．

“And Buck fought like ten wolves,” answered Francois. “And we'll travel faster now. No more Spitz，no more trouble.”

Francois started to harness the dogs. He needed a new lead-dog, and decided that Solleks was the best dog that he had. But Buck jumped at Solleks and took his place．

“Look at Buck！” said Francois，laughing. “He's killed Spitz，and now he wants to be lead-dog．Go away, Buck！”

He pulled Buck away and tried to harness Solleks again．Solleks was unhappy too. He was frightened of Buck, and when Francois turned his back，Buck took Solleks’ place again. Now Francois was angry．

“I'll show you! ” he cried，and went to get a heavy club from the sledge．

Buck remembered the man in the red coat，and moved away. This time，when Solleks was harnessed as lead-dog，Buck did not try to move in．He kept a few meters away and circled around Francois carefully. But when Francois called him to his old place in front of Dave, Buck refused．He had won his fight with Spitz and he wanted to be lead－dog．

For an hour the two men tried to harness him．Buck did not run away，but he did not let them catch him．Finally，Francois sat down，and Perrault looked at his watch．It was getting late. The two men looked at one another and smiled. Francois walked up to Solleks，took off his harness， led him back and harnessed him in his old place．Then he called Buck. All the other dogs were harnessed and the only empty place was now the one at the front. But Buck did not move．

“Put down the club,” said Perrault．

Francois dropped the club, and immediately Buck came up to the front of the team．Francois harnessed him, and in a minute the sledge was moving．

Buck was an excellent leader. He moved and thought quickly and led the other dogs well. A new leader made no difference to Dave and Solleks; they continued to pull hard．But the other dogs had had an easy life when Spitz was leading．They were surprised when Buck made them work hard and punished them for their mistakes. Pike，the second dog，was usually lazy；but by the end of the first day he was pulling harder than he had ever pulled in his life. The first night in camp Buck fought Joe，another difficult dog，and after that there were no more problems with him．The team started to pull together，and to move faster and faster．

“I've never seen a dog like Buck!” cried Francois, “Never! He's worth a thousand dollars. What do you think, Perrault? ”

Perrault agreed．They were moving quickly，and covering more ground every day. The snow was good and hard，and no new snow fell．The temperature dropped to 45°C below zero, and didn't change．

This time there was more ice on the Thirty Mile River, and they crossed in a day．Some days they ran a hundred kilometers，or even more. They reached Skagway in fourteen days; the fastest time ever．

1.The writer mentioned “the man in the red coat” in the passage to show that____.

A．the man in the red coat once beat Buck severely with a club.

B．Buck remembered Francois was the man in the red coat.

C．the man in the red was quite friendly to Buck in his memory.

D．Buck remembered Francois was a friend of the man in the red coat.

2. Why did Buck fight Joe the first night in camp?

A．He wanted to get rid of Joe.

B．He wanted to make some trouble.

C．He was interested in fighting with others.

D．He wanted to teach Joe a lesson.

3. According to the passage, which of the following is true about the other dogs?

A．Dave stood in the second position in the team.

B．Joe was always quite lazy in the team.

C．Pike was a trouble-maker in the team.

D．Solleks was hard-working in the team.

4. What did Francois think of Buck at the end of the passage?

A．annoying          B．admirable         C．aggressive         D．average

5. Which of the following best shows that Buck was an excellent leader?

A．He killed Spitz at the beginning of the story.

B．He punished them for their mistakes.

C．He fought Joe the first night in camp.

D．They reached Skagway in the fastest time ever.

6.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．The Fight with Dogs B．The New Lead-dog   C．A Dog Called Buck   D．A Real Fighter

Last year was the first year when I taught the fifth grade. Recently, I’ve been 1 by a “graduated ”student for the first time. I was really surprised when he walked into my home.

He hasn’t physically changed much since  2 my class last year and if I had had to guess who would come to visit me first. I wouldn’t have thought of him. Carlos was a student who had a hard time sitting   3  in the beginning of last year. He would often   4 to go to the bathroom, and he’d talk or look like he was falling asleep because of little sleep. He often needed   5  in doing anything that other students could do well on their own.

I found out that the reason for his behavior in my classroom was that he had been  6 nightmares(噩梦)about his border-crossing experience. He was  7 that the immigration office would take him or his parents to prison or back to their   8 . And here he was in my class trying to learn a(n)  9 language, which he had never touched before.

When he was in my class, one thing that stood out was that he had a(n)  10 time speaking English. But when he walked in my room yesterday, all of that was missing. In walked a calm, 11  boy who spoke and understood English far better than when he left me in June. He even  12 to speak to my class in the sixth grade in English. He told me he remembered doing sign language and the video I made to help him  13 his English.

His visit  14 a lot to me not only because he has made great progress, but also because it reminded me what it means to be a teacher ----- to have a lasting influence on  15 .

3.A. fast           B. beautifully      C. still          D actively

14.14.

Adults usually do not remember most of the things that are taught by their teachers at school. But this story is one such lesson that I will never forget. Every time I drift off course, I think of this story.

It was a normal Monday morning, and my teacher was teaching us on important things in life and about devoting ourselves to what is important to us. This is how the story went:

An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the subway. He would get onto the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and beg. He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at the same street corner and begged for almost 20 years.

His house was dirty, and a stench (恶臭) came out of the house and it smelled terrible. The neighbors could not stand the smell any more, so they called for the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house. There were small bags of money all over the house that he had collected over the years.

The police counted the money, and they soon realized that the old man was a millionaire (百万富翁). They waited outside his house expecting to share the good news with him. When the old man arrived home that evening, one of the officers told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a rich man now, a millionaire.

But the old man said nothing at all; he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, sat at the street corner and continued to beg.

Clearly, this old man had no great plans, dreams or anything significant (有意义的) for his life. We learn nothing from this story other than staying focused on the things we enjoy doing.

1.The neighbor called the police because ______.

A．the old man kept begging money from them every day

B．there was something dangerous in the old man’s house

C．the old man wouldn’t buy tickets for the train

D．they couldn’t bear the smell from the old man’s house

2.When the old man knew he was a millionaire, he ______.

A．remained calm                         B．became excited

C．felt worried                            D．became nervous

3.What lesson do we learn from the story?

A．Make great plans for your life.

B．Keep on doing what you like.

C．Do something that is good to society.

D．Depend on yourself rather than others.

Last Christmas was a very difficult time for me. My family and all of my close friends were back home in Florida, and I was all alone in a rather cold California. I was working too many hours and became very sick.

I was working a double shift at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter, it was about 9:00 PM on Christmas Eve, and I was feeling really miserable inside. There were a few of us working and very few customers waiting to be helped. When it was time for me to call the next person to the counter, I looked out to see the sweetest-looking old man standing with a cane. He walked very slowly over to the counter and in the faintest voice told me that he had to go to New Orleans. I tried to explain to him that there were no more flights that night and that he would have to go in the morning. He looked so confused and very worried. I tried to find out more information by asking if he had a reservation or if he remembered when he was supposed to travel, but he seemed to become more confused with each question. He just kept saying, “She said I have to go to New Orleans.”

After much time, I was able to at least find out that this old man had been dropped off at the curb on Christmas Eve by his sister-in-law and told to go to New Orleans, where he had family. She had given him some cash and told him just to go inside and buy a ticket. When I asked if he could come back tomorrow, he said that she was gone and that he had no place to stay. He then said he would wait at the airport until tomorrow. Naturally, I felt a little ashamed. Here I was feeling very sorry for myself about being alone on Christmas, when this angel named Clarence MacDonald was sent to me to remind me of what being alone really meant. It broke my heart.

Immediately, I told him we would get it all straightened out, and our Customer Service agent helped to book him a seat for the earliest flight the next morning. We gave him the senior citizen’s fare, which gave him some extra money for travelling. About this time he started to look very tired, and when I stepped around the counter to ask him if he was all right, I saw that his leg was wrapped in a bandage. He had been standing on it that whole time, holding a plastic bag full of clothes.

I called for a wheelchair. When the wheelchair came, we all stepped around to help him in, and I noticed a small amount of blood on his bandage. I asked how he hurt his leg, and he said that he had just had bypass surgery and an artery was taken from his leg. Can you imagine? This man had had heart surgery, and then shortly afterward, was dropped off at the curb to buy a ticket with no reservation to fly to New Orleans, alone!

I never really had a situation like this, and I wasn’t sure what I could do. I went back to ask my supervisors if we could find a place for him to stay. They both said yes, and they obtained a hotel voucher for Mr. MacDonald for one night and a meal ticket for dinner and breakfast. When I came back out, we got his plastic bag of clothes and cane together and gave the porter a tip to take him downstairs to wait for the airport shuttle. I bent down to explain the hotel, food and itinerary (行程) again to Mr. MacDonald, and then patted him on the arm and told him everything would be just fine.

As he left he said, “Thank you,” bent his head and started to cry. I cried too. When I went back to thank my supervisor, she just smiled and said, “I love stories like that. He is your Christmas Man.”

1.Last Christmas the writer had a miserable time because ______.

A．there were more customers than usual waiting to be helped

B．it was freezing cold in California at Christmas time

C．she was working all alone at the ticket counter

D．she was far away from her family and friends

2.The writer’s first impression of the old man was that he was ______.

A．gentle-looking and weak                  B．tired out and worried

C．confused and very sick                   D．sad and anxious

3.The old man wanted to fly to New Orleans to ______.

A．see his friends there

B．spend the Christmas with his family

C．visit his sister-in-law

D．undergo heart surgery

4.On hearing the old man say that he would wait at the airport the whole night, the writer felt a bit ashamed. This is because ______.

A．she felt sorry that she couldn’t do the old man a favor

B．she realized that someone was even more miserable than she felt

C．it took her a long time to find out how helpless the old man was

D．the old man was like an angel in the writer’s eyes

5.The writer called for a wheelchair for the old man because ______.

A．the old man had broken his leg when he was dropped off at the curb

B．the old man could spend the whole night on it at the airport

C．the old man was carrying a whole lot of clothes

D．the old man had had surgery just before and was very weak by then

6. By calling the old man the writer’s Christmas Man, the writer’s supervisor implied that ______.

A．the old man had told the writer a love story on Christmas

B．the old man had caused a lot of trouble for the writer on Christmas

C．the old man was the best gift the writer could have received on Christmas

D．the old man was the only customer the writer had served on Christmas

It was my birthday last Thursday. I decided to 36 it by inviting a few friends out to supper. I chose a restaurant in a _37_ part of town. It is one of my favorite restaurants because the food is good and the waiters are friendly. It is _38_ ever crowded, because not many people know about it, so it is not usually _39_ to book a table. In _40_ case, Thursday is not a busy evening.

When we entered the restaurant, we were surprised to find it completely __41_ . I___42__but not a singletable was free. One of the waiters recognized me. He came across and explained the situation. "A party of tourists came in about half an hour ago.” he said. "It was like an invasion (侵略). Suddenly the place was full! We can hardly_ 43_ ."

The waiter then pointed to a table in the corner. "The people there are about to _44_ ." he said, "Just hold on and you'll  _45 _a place there." He was right. Fifteen minutes later, the people_46  the corner table paid their  _47_ , got up and left. I led my friends across and we all sat down.

__48__ our table was almost out of sight. We tried to draw the attention of the waiter _49_ sent us there, but he, like all the other waiters, was busy  50_ the party of tourists. They ordered lots of food. At last, an hour later, the tourists were finishing their meal and looking very _51_ with life. The waiter now very tired, appeared at our table. I advised my friends about the best dishes and finally the waiter went off with our _52_ .

A few moments later he returned to our table. We could tell from his face that he had _53_ for us.  54_ a little sorry he told us that there was  _55_ left. "All we can offer you" he said, "is an omelet (煎蛋卷) !"